Warren County IN Archives History - Books .....Settlement By Whites 1883 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 9, 2007, 5:09 pm Book Title: Counties Of Warren, Benton, Jasper And Newton, Indiana SETTLEMENT BY THE WHITES. Of course, Zachariah Cicott was the first white man to reside permanently within the present limits of Warren County. Probably no others appeared until about the year 1822, at which time a very few came in, and during the succeeding two or three years the settlement was quite slow. Amongst those who came into the southwestern part of the county prior to June, 1827, were Samuel Watkins, William Jolly, Thomas Cunningham, Joseph Thomas, John N. Lewin, Nicholas DeLong, Lewis Evans, John Black, Humphrey Becket, Benjamin Becket, William Becket, John Ferrell, Elias Oxford, Sylvester Stone, Elisha Miles, Hiram Miles, James Holmes, James McCune, Robert Mills, Enoch Stran, Jacob Ferrell, and others; while farther northeast were J. C. Watson, Thomas Kitchen, Luther Tillotson, James Kitchen, Nelson DeMoss, Peter High, Amos Clark, William Hall, Samuel Clem, Henry Coons, Adam Coons, Augustus Watson, William Kent, Nathaniel Butterfield, Holder Sisson, James Shaw, Lemuel Boyd, Benjamin Cheneweth, John Jones, James Forbner and Joseph King. Near the center portion of the county were Ransom Wilkinson, Seth Shippy, James Oxford, William Harrison, Nathan Billings, Samuel Harrison, Uriah Dunn, George Billings, Marcus Shippy, John Fields, Jr., James Gilbert, Christopher Pitzer, David Dickinson, William Harrington, Mathias Redding, John Hankins, John Fields, James Fipps, James B. Harrison, Thomas B. Clark, Jonathan Shippy, Daniel and Robert Benjamin, Jonathan Pitzer, John Dickinson, Thomas Doan, Joan Seaman, Daniel Clark, Nimrod Harrison, David Fleming, Andrew Fleming, William Pugh, Peter Fleming, Lyman Judd, Marshal Billings, Jacob Halstead, and farther east were David White, Constantine Messmore, Zachariah Cicott, Thomas Herron, Solomon Pitzer, Francis Boggs, M. Hunt, Daniel Tevebaugh, John Tevebaugh, Adam White, James McCord, John and Enoch Farmer, Joseph Cox and others, while farther north, along Big and Little Pine Creeks, were James Bidwell, Archibald Davis, Samuel B. Clark, Edward Mace, Samuel Green, Isaac Bains, John Anderson, John Jackson, Jeremiah Davis, John Gradner and several others, whose names cannot be learned with certainty. In 1827, the county was organized, and during the succeeding five or six years the settlement was very rapid. The first tracts of land entered in the county were as follows: Purchaser T R Sec. Acres Location Date of Entry Wm & Jonas Seaman 21 8 2 80 w. 1/2 s. e. 1/4 December 16, 1820. John Blind 23 7 14 40 n. w. 1/4 s. e 1/4 September 11, 1822. Benjamin Landon 22 8 29 80 e. 1/2 s. e. 1/4 September 15, 1822. James Barnes 20 9 33 80 e. 1/2 n. e. 1/4 November 15, 1822. James Barnes 20 9 33 80 e. 1/2 s. w. 1/4 November 15, 1822. James Barnes 20 9 33 80 w. 1/2 s. w. 1/4 November 15, 1822. John Black 20 9 33 80 w. 1/2 n. e. 1/4 November 15, 1822. John Black 20 9 33 80 e. 1/2 n. w. 1/4 November 15, 1822. Thomas Cunningham 20 9 33 80 e. 1/2 s. e. 1/4 November 15, 1822. Thomas Cunningham 20 9 33 80 w. 1/2 s. e. 1/4 November 15, 1822. Thomas Wright 20 9 28 80 e. 1/2 s. w. 1/4 November 18, 1822. Thomas Wright 20 9 28 80 w. 1/2 s. e. 1/4 November 18, 1822. Samuel Watkins 20 9 28 80 e. 1/2 s. e. 1/4 September 20, 1823. Samuel Green 22 6 4 41.86 n. e. 1/4 n. w. 1/4 November 9, 1823. William Newell 23 6 7 80 e. 1/2 s. w. 1/4 January 22, 1824. Silas Hooker 23 8 15 40 n. e. 1/4 s. w. 1/4 February 25, 1824. James McCune 20 9 34 80 w. 1/2 n. e. 1/4 May 29, 1824. Unknown 20 10 21 274.8 s 1/2 August 9, 1824. Lewis Colleyer 22 7 11 SO n. 1/2 s. w. 1/4 August 28, 1824. Lewis Evans 20 9 27 70 s. e. fr. w. 1/2 December 27, 1824. Enoch Farmer 22 7 30 80 w. 1/2 s. e. 1/4 December 31, 1824. In 1825, the following men entered land: Thomas Bowyer, Township 23, Range 6; William H. Mace, Township 23, Range 6; James Bidwell, Township 23, Range 6; John S. Reid, Township 23, Range 6; John Cox, Township 22, Range 7; John McCord, Township 22, Range 7; Jonathan Cox, Township 22, Range 7; Samuel B. Clark, Township 22, Range 7; Nancy Maudlin, Township 22, Range 8; Henry Coons, Township 20, Range 9; Thomas Lewis, Township 20, Range 9: Lewis Evans, Township 20, Range 9; Benedict Morris, Township 20, Range 9. In 1826, the following men entered land: Isaac Shelby, Township 22, Range 6; John Stanley, Township 23, Range 6; Jeremiah Davis, Township 23, Range 6; Samuel B. Clark, Township 23, Range 6; John Rhode, Township 22, Range 7; David White, Township 22, Range 7; Samuel Ensley, Township 22, Range 7; Henry Wetchell, Township 23, Range 7; William Kendall, Township 22, Range 8; William Worthington, Township 2&, Range 8; Levi Osborn, Township 23, Range 8; Abel Oxford, Township 20, Range 9; Joseph Thomes, Township 20, Range 9; William Henderson, Township 20, Range 9; Joseph Foster, Township 20, Range 9; William White, Township 21, Range 9. After this, the settlement was more rapid. A great many families came in—some from neighboring older counties and some direct from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other States east. The early settlers sought the timber for four reasons: First, because, as they had been reared in a timbered country they knew nothing of the prairie, and thought the soil was too poor for the production of forests, and consequently too poor to be cultivated; secondly, they thought it impossible to survive the cold winters in such an exposed situation; thirdly, they preferred to remain where wood was abundant; fourthly, they concluded to locate near some water-courses which were then the great commercial highway. It is therefore seen that the very earliest settlers preferred the timbered land, and selected their farms on streams where there was a good mill site and where never-failing springs of good water issued from the ground. Some of the settlers had learned the value of prairie land, and they resolutely pushed out on the broad expanse despite the scoffs of those who pretended to be wiser. Many of the earliest settlers squatted upon their farms, being too poor to pay the entry price until after the harvest of the first or second crop. Others had barely sufficient to enter their lands. Others still had considerable means, and found that settling up a new country was not so hard after all. Still others were obliged to return whence they came. Money was very scarce, and people were often enforced to resort to barter in order to effect exchanges. The comparative demand and supply regulated the price of all articles. A yard of calico was worth so many pounds of butter; a deer skin was worth so much sugar or coffee, and an ax was worth so many bushels of potatoes. The tanneries supplied leather, which was obtained and made for whole families at once into shoes and boots. Sheep were early introduced, and those that were not killed by wolves supplied wool, which was taken, very often, by the backwoods mother, and washed, rolled, carded, spun, woven into cloth, dressed, cut and made into suits without once leaving the house where it had been clipped from the sheep. Everybody had ox teams. Young men went courting with ox teams, and many young couples went gayly off to some old "Squire" to get married, driving a span of fast young cattle. If they were fortunate enough to own a horse, they would both mount the animal, the girl on behind, and away they would go, followed by a shower of old shoes, horseshoes and rice. The first marriage in the county was after this fashion. It occurred on the 1st of January, 1828, between Noble Owens and Catharine Coons, Nathaniel Butterfield, Associate Judge, performing the ceremony. The second marriage was June 19, 1828, between James Perrin and Cassandra Clarke, Lemuel Boyd, Justice of the Peace. The third was November 30, 1828, between Jonathan Pitzer and Nancy Bivens, by Squire Dunn. On this occasion the evening was passed in an old-fashioned backwoods dance. It must have been a sight to have seen them whirling around the room of the little log cabin, shaking their feet to some familiar tune on an old fiddle, "As the fiddler touched the string, Some youngster cut the pigeon wing." The Scotch, Virginia and other varieties of reel were indulged in; old men took the floor under the inspiration, and unlimbered themselves in a manner to elicit rounds of applause from boys of less skill and experience. There were no "stuck-up" people in the new country; all were friendly, for all were poor. The latch string hung out for everybody: this hospitality was so universal that every settler seemed to keep tavern. It would not do to turn travelers away, for the cabins were so few that the night would probably have to be passed in the woods. The only question was, can they put up with what we have? Travelers in the backwoods usually could and did. Additional Comments: Extracted from: PART II. HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY. Geology and Settlement ======================== COUNTIES OF Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, INDIANA HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1883. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/warren/history/1883/counties/settleme498gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 10.1 Kb